The Friend Zone

By Contributor

October 27, 2011

Faye may be stuck in the friend zone... do she and Ash still have a chance? -- Sparkitors

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as a 500-person lecture hall and as timeless as a math class on Friday. It is the middle ground between your first cup of coffee and your second cup of coffee, between engineering and creative writing; it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his college education. This is the dimension of procrastination. It is an area we call...

The Friend Zone.

I don't know how this happened. One minute I'm flirt-fighting with Ash Ketchum (new codename, yay!) and then the next thing you know, I'm at the bottom of the friend-zone hole.

Last Thursday, I invited myself out to breakfast with Ash. He always wakes up at the ungodly hour of 5:30, goes for a run, showers, eats breakfast, and gets to 8:00 a.m. Chem class 15 minutes early. I usually set my alarm for 6:30, oversleep until 7, become decent, grab some caffeine and make it to Chem with 6 minutes to spare. But I really wanted tator tots (and possibly to spend some time with Ash), so I told him I was going to tag along. Bad decision numero uno.

6:30 Thursday morning, Ash and I are walking to breakfast exchanging our usual insults. He starts talking about this cute girl in his Physics class. I can't be one-upped, so I start talking about this cute guy in our Chem class. He decides it's his mission to set me and this other guy up. We're talking some more at breakfast, he's making fun of me for eating tator tots, and then I say something along the lines of "you're just like my brother." That's the biggest no-no when talking to a guy you like, but my brain was so fuzzy! It was so early! I know, I friend-zoned myself so bad.

The weekend was complicated, too. Ash and I spent a lot of time together. Friday night, Ash, one of my suitemates (Rosie) and I went out to dinner. After that we forced him to watch a tv show and eat Ben & Jerry's in the lounge with us. Saturday night, a group of our friends was going to go shopping, but everyone else bailed, leaving Ash and me together in Target. We spent Sunday papier-mâché-ing (there's a floor decorating contest) and doing math problems. He came into my room Sunday night and lay on the floor; he, Rosie and I talked for an hour. Rosie and I have taken to calling him our Gay Best Friend (although he's neither gay nor our best friend).

We've talked a LOT. We've talked about school and engineering and what we want to do when we graduate. We've talked about the awful music he listens to, and video games, and movies I have to see. He's talked about his ex and Physics girl. The look of shock on his face was hilarious when he found out I've never had a boyfriend before. I know all sorts of Ash fun facts—he can't stand the term "epic fail," he can hear bats talking to each other (sometimes I call him Batman), one of his dogs hates him, and he doesn't believe in love at first sight.

I keep telling myself that Ash and I are just friends, but then he'll say something like, "You're different from other girls," or he'll give me a look and I get the whole butterfly-tummy thing. When I try to picture myself going on a date with other cute Chem guy, I can't help but think of how much more fun I'd have hanging out with Ash and how much easier it would be to talk to him. But he says he likes Physics girl, and I keep saying I like cute Chem guy. So for now, I've decided not to think about liking Ash as more than a friend...although that's like having someone tell you not to think about pink elephants.

College Fact #5: Love rectangles suck.

Ash and I now have this bet going: if he can't get Physics girl to go on a date with him within the next two weeks, he has to buy me a full out breakfast—orange juice and all. If he does get the girl, he's forcing me to go on a 1.5 mile run. And I hate running so much.

Keep your fingers crossed! Sleep is for the weak.

Faye :)

Are Faye and Ash more than friends?!